Kraken Add Marika Davis as New In-Arena Host
Davis moves from Kansas City sports entertainment to Climate Pledge Arena, jumping straight from the ECHL's Mavericks to the NHL.
The Seattle Kraken have a new voice on the video board. Marika Davis, who built her career in Kansas City, Missouri, is the club's new in-arena host at Climate Pledge Arena, the club announced in a feature introducing her.
Davis said she took the call in her car and nearly screamed. "I had to mute myself and calm down," she said.
She studied broadcasting at Kansas State University, where she was asked during her sophomore year to audition for an in-arena hosting job. That led to hosting football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and other sports. After graduating, she spent about a year as a sports reporter at a local television station in Kansas, then returned to hosting with Sporting Kansas City for three seasons. Along the way she freelanced as a rinkside reporter and in-arena host for the ECHL's Kansas City Mavericks, which was her first work in hockey.
The Mavericks, she said, framed her departure in hockey terms. "They kept saying I'd been promoted up," Davis said. "I jumped straight to Seattle (from the ECHL)."
Davis said Seattle's game presentation was a big draw. "What was really attractive to me about Seattle is just how ahead of the game their presentation and [game] production is," she said.
She joins a returning group that includes in-arena co-host Strawberry, public address announcer Chet Buchanan, music director David Hatch and organist Benny Drawbars.
Davis described her preparation as research into the history between the two teams, potential storylines and the players. "You have to have a strong IQ of the matchups and just the sport in general," she said, "Because momentum is one of the most important things that happen in sports in any game."
